Operation Spring Break

Operation Spring Break (25 April-1 May 2006) was a US Marine Corps operation of the Iraq War carried out against the Islamic Army in Iraq militants that occupied the mosque at Almaden. The operation was a defeat for the Americans, who suffered heavy losses.

History
The US Marine Corps launched an operation to clear the city of Almaden of insurgents after some patrols came under heavy fire from a fortified mosque near the center of town. The marines came under heavy fire from insurgents taking up positions in a house in an alleyway very close to the Almaden mosque, and the fighting took place in the alleyways to the left of the road to the police station and in front of the mosque. After the marines succeeded in capturing the alley house and the road nearby, they assaulted the mosque and were pinned down once more inside of the mosque. The terrorists gunned down several Americans there, and the mosque became a new killzone for the terrorists and marines. Soon, the Americans stopped sending reinforcements, and Thomas B. Dimassimo was one of the last men standing before being shot dead by the insurgents as he tried to kill the last attacking insurgents. The operation was a defeat for the Americans, and they were forced to end their attempt to clear the city.